Japanify: Tuna Toast

It's no secret that I don't like any breakfast/lunch egg dishes. So whenever I go out for brunch, I have to scour the menu for non-egg items. I usually have to order a hodge-podge of side dishes: two breakfast sausages, toast and hash browns.

It's the same in Japan – omelettes and egg-dishes dominate coffee shop menus. But I can usually find a classic, retro option, like tuna toast. It uses canned tuna and melted cheese as a topping for toast. Sign me up!

I was reminded of tuna toast last month when Kayoko and I visited a cozy little coffee shop in Fukushima. Tori-chan and Kayoko both got omelette dishes. I got the tuna toast.

I tried to recreate tuna toast to the best of my knowledge. I first thought that I needed to grill the toast with butter. But the toast had too much of a charred taste and the butter was too heavy-handed. So I tried pre-toasting it and used mayonnaise instead of butter. Bingo! It took me three good tries to get this right.

Another thing I overlooked the first couple times was the use of green onion as garnish. I first tried using the white part of the green onion, minced, but you have to use the green part. Not only does it add color, but it adds just the right amount of fresh-grassiness that contrasts to the tuna and cheese.

I was also very lucky to come across a loaf of Japanese Milk Toast at Craftsman and Wolves in San Francisco. It's important to have the right Japanese-style loaf bread. These loaves can be found at Japanese grocery stores. If you are lucky enough to live in San Francisco, go ahead and give the loaf at Craftsman and Wolves a try. If you really can't find a Japanese loaf, just make sure to use white bread. Do not use wheat or sourdough.

3. Evenly top the tuna/mayo/cheese mixture to the lightly toasted bread.

4. Preheat your toaster to 400°F. Put the toast into the toaster for 8 minutes. Depending on the strength of your toaster, it may be more or less. Keep an eye on the toast, it should not burn, but the cheese needs to melt thoroughly.

5. Once the cheese is thoroughly melted, remove from toaster and sprinkle green onion bits onto the toast.